Seneca Valley senior Chris Marziotto leads the Raiders with 25 points and is a PIHL all-star this season.

WARRENDALE – Having a trial run at being a captain provided Chris Marziotto with the right amount of perspective. Named a captain his junior year, Marziotto learned how to lead. He’s hoping that experience will help him continue the growth of the Seneca Valley hockey program. During his time in the program, Marziotto saw varsity time as a freshman, the Raiders have gone from a program that won one game to a team competing with the top teams in PIHL Class AAA. “Last season, I got to test it out and see how far I could go,” said Marziotto, who is a forward. “This year, I know my role and what I should say and what I shouldn’t say. I was pretty comfortable coming into this year.” Through 13 games, Seneca Valley is off to a 7-6 start and Marziotto has produced a career-best 25 points and 15 assists. He’s sixth in Class AAA in total points and is on pace to set a personal best in goals scored. Marziotto has made gradual improvement every season. As a freshman he had six points, he contributed 15 as a sophomore and 24 as a junior. Playing travel hockey for North Pittsburgh helped aid his development. Adding Peter Kipin, his teammate at North Pittsburgh, also helped. Kipin, who has six goals and 13 points this season, said Marziotto helps open things up. “We travel together, so we have a lot of chemistry together. It’s trying to find the other person that fits with us,” Kipin said. “We’re both fast players. Every time he touches the puck he’s flying by someone so no one can really touch him. We see that happen and we have to get open for him.” Maturity and hard work have paid dividends for Marziotto. “I’ve coached Chris since he was in sixth grade and moved up with him through the system,” Seneca Valley hockey coach Anthony Raco said. “I knew him at a young age and knew he was mature for his age and had the qualities you look for in a captain. … He holds guys accountable in practice, I don’t always have to be the one that says what was wrong.” Marziotto also knows how to take himself to task. When asked about his biggest weakness, Marziotto said he is lazy sometimes on the fore-check. “He speaks what he thinks. Normally, 95 percent of the time he’s right with everything he talks about,” Kipin said. “He’s been playing since his freshman season, I joined junior year and he knows the system and everything and he’s been in the Seneca program for a long time, so he knows what it takes to win.” Marziotto has seen the Raiders take a major step since his freshman season. He’s excited to see how it will finish. “It’s awesome, considering my freshman year I played varsity and we had one win,” Marziotto said. “Then my sophomore year we had three wins and junior year we had 12. Right now, we’re trying to get as many wins as we can before the playoffs.”